Just a Walk in the Park
by Rairyu
Summary: The group decides to take a day off in a new world. No spoilers or pairings.


Hi, all! This is my first fanfic (at least, that I deemed decent). I've been a fan of Tsubasa ever since a friend introduced me to it…3 years ago? Anyway, I wanted to do something lighthearted and fun without being too fluffy.

There shouldn't be any spoilers, pairings, or anything of that sort. If I missed any, please inform me. Set sometime before the Tokyo arc, probably toward the beginning of their journey.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ferris Wheels, carousels, Mighty Mouse (assuming it exists '~'), Snickers (fried or otherwise), Tsubasa and all associated (after all, if I did, would I be writing this?) or anything else I mention in here.

Enjoy!

Kurogane looked over the chaos in front of him with trepidation. It looked to be some kind of fair, but it was full of mechanical stuff: booths with games, what looked like rides, and odd food stands selling some kind of odd food. It did _not_ look like some place he wanted to go.

"Come on, Kuro-rin," Fai said beside him. "Lets go in! It'll be fun!"

Kurogane looked at him incredulously. He was about to say no, but then he followed the mage's gaze to look at Syaoran and Sakura. Both were staring at the fair wide-eyed, barely concealing their excitement.

Kurogane sighed. Well, they were kids, after all.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Just for a little while."

"Yay!" shouted the mage as he and Sakura ran off into the crowd, Syaoran close behind. Kurogane followed quickly, hoping not to lose them in the madness.

_They arrived in this world looking completely out of place. They immediately sold everything from the last world (it seemed like that stuff was worth quite a lot in this one, something about antiques) and wandered around looking for a clothing store. Within minutes, they were completely lost. Everything about this world was strange: the cars, the buildings, the clothing. Eventually, they took off their cloaks and had Mokona hide them in an attempt to stand out less, but it hadn't helped. And they still couldn't find that clothing store._

_Finally, Kurogane grabbed a random passerby and growled, "Where do I buy clothes?"_

_The man looked ready to faint. Then Mokona said, "Kuro-puu is so scary!", and they had to run as the man started yelling._

_Fai tried next, gently tapping someone on the shoulder and striking up a conversation. They chatted for a while, while Kurogane grew increasingly impatient and Syaoran and Sakura stared at the sights around them. Mokona hung limply from Sakura's arms, pretending to be a toy. Several minutes later, the mage and his new friend were still chatting away, and Kurogane was almost at the breaking point. Finally, he walked over, grabbed the mage by the arm, and dragged him away._

"_So, where is it?" he asked shortly._

"_Where is what, Kuro-tan?" replied the mage._

_Kurogane stopped short. Fai looked at him with that ridiculous smile on his face, waiting for a reply. Syaoran saw the warrior's eyebrow twitch, and slowly drew Sakura a few steps away._

"_YOU MEAN WE STOOD THERE FOR _10 MINUTES_ AND YOU _STILL_ DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BUY CLOTHES?!"_

"_Well…" Fai said, unperturbed. "I was about to ask, but then you grabbed my arm, and…"_

"_Urgh…" muttered the warrior, strongly resisting the urge to strangle the smiling mage. Just then, he felt a tentative tap on his shoulder. He whirled, glaring at Syaoran. "What is it?" he growled menacingly._

_Wordlessly, the boy pointed to a point just beyond Kurogane's shoulder. He turned to see a store with a large array of clothing in front of it._

_The warrior quickly ran through a list of replies he could make, found none that suited him, and finally just started walking in the direction of the store._

_Forty-five minutes later, they were walking down another street, dressed in slightly less conspicuous clothes. Kurogane had stuck to his characteristic black, the princess had found some pink skirt with a white shirt, Syaoran had stuck with a striped, collared shirt and some blue pants called "jeans", and the mage had selected a t-shirt with a swirly pattern in different colors and some plain black pants. All in all, they stilled looked strange, but they weren't attracting a ton of weird looks._

_And then, they had wandered past the festival._

And now, they were wandering through the festival, while Syaoran followed Sakura around to look at everything, wide-eyed, closely followed by a smiling mage and a scowling warrior. Kurogane was tense in this kind of crowd, jumping at every loud noise, but he couldn't bring himself to call an end to this. The kids were having so much fun.

He sighed. They had had so little fun lately.

"Look!" said Sakura suddenly. She was pointing to a tall, precarious structure with a sign over it that read "Mighty Mouse". Kurogane looked up at it nervously. She couldn't be serious.

"That looks like fun! Kuro-pon, what do you think?" Fai said, smiling at him.

"I say you're all insane," he grumbled. Then, he resolutely told himself that there was no way this was going to hurt him, he was going to let them have what little fun they could, and it would give him an excuse to drag them all out later.

Repeating this to himself, he followed them into the ride. They all climbed into a small tin can of a car shaped like a mouse. They all strapped themselves in with ridiculously flimsy looking "seatbelts", and the ride started.

Five minutes later, they were staring at a picture of themselves on the final drop of the ride. Sakura looked to be having the time of her life, smiling happily while holding tightly to Mokona. Syaoran had a shocked, almost scared look on his face. Apparently he didn't like rollercoasters. Fai had his arms above his head, laughing. Kurogane was scowling at the camera, arms crossed. It portrayed the five of them perfectly.

It was almost scary.

"That was fun!" said Sakura breathlessly. Syaoran nodded, but didn't say anything. Fai just smiled. Kurogane fervently hoped this was not going in the direction he could see it…

"Lets go again!"

After finally dragging the princess and the mage off the rickety attraction (Syaoran left all too willingly), Kurogane was once again stupefied as to their idea of fun.

Sakura had taken hold of a dart gun and was attempting to shoot balloons pinned to the wall. Why? She wanted a stuffed animal. Not that they would be able to keep it anyway. It would take up too much room, be too much of a hassle to carry, and would serve no practical purpose.

Which, of course, meant the mage had to try for one, too. Worst of all, he was actually a good shot.

Kurogane sighed. Sometimes he wondered if the two of them ever considered consequences.

Needless to say, they ended up walking away with a huge Mokona look-alike that Fai just wouldn't let go of. Kurogane made a point of not looking at it. "You do know we can't keep that, right, mage?" he asked pointedly.

"Yeah," the mage replied quietly. Kurogane glanced at him, startled. Fai smiled at him. "I know."

He then walked away and handed the huge stuffed toy to a little kid standing crying next to one of the game booths. The kid looked at him with huge eyes, lit up like it was Christmas. Kurogane sighed. Sometimes, he just couldn't understand that guy.

Three hours later, the five of them (four, since Mokona wasn't talking) decided to find food. It shouldn't have been hard, being as they were surrounded by food stalls of all sorts, but "Fried Snickers" had a nasty sound to it. That, and they saw someone heaving their wheaties out behind the stall. It was enough to turn anyone away.

So, instead, they had chosen the food that sounded the least threatening: hamburgers. Kurogane stared at his, steeling his nerves. Across from him, the mage picked his up and bit into it. He seemed to consider for a moment, before pronouncing it safe. Sakura bit into hers, closely followed by Syaoran. However, Kurogane just couldn't bring himself to bite into something that looked like…

…well…

…that looked like it wanted to smile at him.

Curse the mage for dragging him in here. Why were they wandering through a festival when the most important thing was finding the feathers? It made no sense.

Kurogane dragged his mind out of its wanderings in time to see the white manjuu bun open its mouth just wide enough to suck in his "hamburger". He reached after it, but the creature had already swallowed his food.

"You…" he snarled. He grabbed the thing in both hands and tugged. "Spit it out!"

"Now, now, Kuro-pippi!" Fai giggled. "You're getting some awfully strange looks."

Kurogane glanced around quickly. Sure enough, a good amount of people were looking his way and snickering. He sighed and put the creature down. He closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and made no attempt to hide his displeasure. All his efforts were lost on the irrepressible mage, however.

"Let's ride that one next!"

Kurogane followed his gaze. He was looking at what appeared to be a giant wheel with little seats hanging off the spokes.

"Its…a…Ferris Wheel?" stated Syaoran uncertainly, squinting to read the sign.

"Sounds like fun! Lets go! What do you say, Kuro-pon?" the mage asked hopefully.

Kurogane looked at the smiling mage, the hopeful boy, and the shining-eyed princess, and sighed. Well, if you're going to hell…

"Alright," he conceded reluctantly.

"Yay!" The mage grabbed him by the arm and half-dragged him toward the imposing structure. Kurogane examined the small seats and thin connections with trepidation, hoping this was not going to be a life-threatening experience.

"Fai, there's only two people to a seat," Syaoran observed.

"Yep. That means you and Sakura should take one, and Kuro-rin and I will take the other."

"Hey! Why do I get stuck with you?!" Kurogane rounded on the mage. He had agreed to ride the thing, but this was too much.

Fai looked at him seriously for a moment, then glanced at the other two, holding hands and watching the ride, then back. Kurogane read his meaning in his eyes, then looked away again as Fai smiled.

"That's settled, then. Lets go!" He hopped happily forward and into the seat to the left. Still grumbling, Kurogane took the other seat.

The car lifted slowly into the air. The view was wonderful, and the warrior felt himself relaxing a little, though he refused to show it. The breeze was nice, too. He decided that, just this once, he wouldn't regret humoring the mage.

The warrior looked across at the other man, and was surprised. The usual large, cheery, fake smile was replaced by one of absent-minded freedom as its owner gazed over the lights of the festival and the surrounding town. The sun was setting, casting a golden glow over everything.

Fai noticed Kurogane watching him, and once again smiled that smile that Kurogane immediately recognized as a lie. The warrior glared, and Fai's smile faltered a little.

"Stop it," he growled.

"Stop what, Kuro-tan?" asked the mage innocently, smiling all the more.

"Stop calling me those ridiculous names. And stop smiling like that. You're not fooling me."

Fai continued to smile, but it was once again that simple, happy smile. He looked out across the trees to where the sun was setting, and the final rays turned his hair to fire. He closed his eyes, reveling in the sun's last gleam. "You know what, Kuro-rin?" he asked quietly, without turning.

Kurogane tensed. "What?" he replied shortly, wary of what was going to come.

The mage turned to look at him, true warmth in his eyes. "I wish it could stay like this forever."

Some time later, after night had truly fallen, Sakura spotted something called a Carousel, covered in bright lights and playing beautiful music. They convinced Kurogane to ride, promising that this would be the last ride they would take, and, upon his grudging acquiescence, hurried to choose suitable animals. Sakura found a sea turtle, decided it was cute, and climbed up. Syaoran chose a nearby wolf. Kurogane picked a black horse, decked out in full battle regalia, tossing its head in challenge. Fai chose the hawk next to it, settling his lanky form comfortable between its wings.

As the ride started up, a new song started to play. Kurogane listened absently, watching Sakura laugh and Syaoran smile, secretly glad that they'd had a day of fun. After all, he doubted they would have a chance like this again.

The wind quieted, and, to his shock, Kurogane could hear a low, clear voice singing along to the song in a foreign language. He turned to the mage on his right, and, sure enough, Fai was singing softly to the music. The mage caught his gaze, and smiled.

"This sounds a lot like a lullaby from my world…" he whispered absently. Then he began to sing again, too quietly to be heard by any but the warrior riding the black horse beside him. Kurogane began to relax despite himself. It really was a beautiful lullaby…

All too soon, the song ended, to be replaced by some strident hymn popular with the throngs of children on the ride. Soon after, the ride itself ended, and the foursome wandered off it, in no rush to be any place, not fleeing from anything. It was a good feeling.

It felt like peace.

They ambled along idly. Most of the young children had gone home, leaving teenagers and adults in the park where the festival was. Music drifted to them through the night, and, on a whim, they followed it to its source. There was a series of wood planks set up in a makeshift dance floor, and music came out of several huge boxes stacked on one side. Couples and groups sprawled across the planks and the grass surrounding the boxes, dancing to the throbbing beat. Sakura gasped, and Kurogane sighed again as all his hopes of getting any sleep tonight vanished.

He wasn't that annoyed, though. He couldn't bring himself to be. For whatever reason, this wasn't really bothering him anymore. He didn't know if that was a good thing, or not, and, at the moment, he didn't really care.

Sakura grabbed Syaoran and ran toward the dance floor just as another song started up. The two of them fumbled for a minute before beginning a passable dance of some sort. It must have been a custom in their world, because Kurogane had never seen anything like it. It was cute, he decided uncharacteristically.

Fai and Kurogane stood watching the dancers, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Fai turned to Kurogane. "Kuro-pippi, have you ever been to a festival before?"

The question took him by surprise, and it was a moment before he answered. "Yeah, when I was little. But it was nothing like this." He turned to the mage, and was surprised. The mage's normal smile had been replaced by…something else. He couldn't exactly say what. "What about you?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, I've never been to something like this," was the absent-minded reply. Kurogane thought he sensed something in the mage's reply, like some hidden irony, but then Fai noticed his scrutiny and smiled that fake smile, and whatever it was disappeared.

"Well, then, Kuro-sama, shall we dance too?" Without waiting for a reply, the mage grabbed him by the arm and dragged him closer to the rest of the dancers.

"Wait a second, mage, what…" He never got to finish his query as Fai grabbed him by the hands and began to spin around. The warrior growled and tried to break free, but the mage was stronger than he looked.

That and something in the back of his mind kept telling him, _Don't let go. Don't let go. If you do, you'll lose more than you realize. Don't let go._

What the heck? the warrior wondered. All he'd do is fall. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to let go. The mage was completely oblivious, eyes closed, a look of wild abandonment on his face. Kurogane almost smiled. The guy was such a kid.

He had no idea how long they spent spinning, but eventually he felt a familiar presence nearby. It felt like the princess. He carefully dragged the mage to a standstill and turned, staggering from dizziness, to see Sakura standing there. She looked like she wanted to say something, but hesitated. Fai solved the problem neatly.

"Come dance with me, Sakura!" Sakura smiled, and soon, the two of them were whirling around perilously in the middle of the dance floor. Kurogane had no idea how they managed to avoid hitting someone. He sighed, and retreated to the edge of the area to stand next to Syaoran, who was watching the princess with a bit of a smile.

When the boy saw him coming, he turned and bowed. "Thank you so much for letting us stay here," he said in a rush. Kurogane watched him for a moment, then reached over and ruffled his hair.

"Thank the damn mage," he grumbled. "If it were up to me, we wouldn't still be here."

Syaoran looked unsure of how to respond to that, and Kurogane didn't feel like saying anything more, so both of them turned back to watch the princess and the mage. Sakura was now spinning in circles with Mokona, laughing happily and getting precariously close to the other dancers. Fai was leaping and twirling in his own interpretation of the song, a genuine smile on his face. Kurogane sighed. Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

Finally, a long time after, the warrior dragged the mage and the princess away from the dance and back toward the entrance to the festival. After all, they still had to find someplace to stay. Syaoran had gamely tried to carry Sakura, who had immediately fallen asleep, but when he tripped and nearly fell on her, Kurogane insisted on carrying her instead. Fai walked close behind Syaoran, just in case.

They managed to find a single room they could afford in some hotel not far away. They laid the princess down on the sofa in the middle of the room. Syaoran sat on the floor next to her, and fell asleep half-sprawled on the edge of the couch. The warrior took up a spot against the wall, facing the door, not entirely able to let go of his instincts. The mage sprawled on the floor next to him, wrapped in his fluffy coat.

Kurogane had a nagging suspicion, and wanted to ask the manjuu bun about it, but he couldn't see it. Ah, well. Maybe in the morning…

…then again, it was the morning.

"Mokona?" he heard the mage ask, softly so as not to wake the others.

The white creature popped out from behind Kurogane. "Yep?"

"There's no feather in this world, is there?"

"Nope!"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, NOPE?!" the warrior managed to yell without raising his voice.

"Ah! Kurogane is scary!" the creature said, and hopped over to hide behind the mage, who was laughing quietly. "I thought there was one, but we came here and there wasn't, and I was going to tell, but then we found the festival, and everyone was having so much fun, and…"

Kurogane growled softly, glaring at the little white creature huddled behind the mage. Said mage was still laughing uncontrollably.

"Now, now, Kuro-tan," he giggled, "you'll wake everyone up again."

Kurogane sighed, but couldn't bring himself to see the day as wasted. After all, happy moments were so few and far between. Tomorrow, they would move on. Tomorrow…

That's all, folks! Kinda longer than I expected, but it just kept coming.

I welcome reviews/constructive criticism, but please don't kill me!


End file.
